A total eclipse of rationality
by magenta blues
Summary: The strangest things can happen from a cookie. Ayako-centered.


A Total Eclipse of Rationality

Disclaimer: I do not own Slam Dunk or its characters.

"_The stars align and shine for you this month! Expect a turnaround in your romantic love life! Remember, red will be your lucky colour!" _

Ayako raised her eye brows as she read aloud the small blue text printed on a thin strip of white paper. Around the table, the rest of the girls twittered while some exchanged sly grins with each other.

"Sugoi! Why didn't my fortune cookie say that?" wailed the girl seated next to Ayako. Megumi stared despondently at the remains of her fortune cookie... which was really just composed of the plastic wrapper and crumbs by then.

"Here, you can have mine," Ayako said breezily as she held out her fortune to Megumi. She really didn't care what fortune she received. She didn't pay 20 dollars in some fancy restaurant to find out what a cookie had in store for her future anyway. The only reason why she was even paying for a meal that she could perfectly cook for herself was the company. Ayako had not seen some of her old girlfriends from junior high for at least 2 years. The reunion that evening had been an enjoyable exchange of information, gossip and inside jokes.

"No!" Megumi cried in horror and swatted Ayako's hand away. "Its not the same! You have to receive the message from your own fortune cookie for it to have any impact on your future! Besides giving a fortune away is bad luck!"

"Oh for pete's sake," Ayako muttered under her breath , rubbing the hand that was already beginning to spot a faint shade of red. Megumi hadn't changed one bit since junior high. She was still obsessed with horoscopes, talismans, omens and all things related to the mystery of chance and fate. Ayako, on the other hand, had never understood the appeal of astrology and mythology. She prided herself on being logical and grounded, rooted in the present and not stuck in some airy-fairy space in the cosmos.

Still, Megumi was an old trusted friend. They might have their differences but Ayako could not doubt the fierce loyalty that the girl possessed. And for that reason, Ayako continued to try and placate the distraught female.

"Well, your fortune isn't so bad. Its really practical in fact, very helpful." Ayako said in the perkiest voice she could manage.

"_Tomorrow's weather will be strange. It is best not to go out?_ What the hell kind of fortune cookie is that? I'm demanding a refund from the manager" Megumi fumed and frantically tried to wave down a waiter. You see, unlike Ayako, Megumi sometimes paid 20 dollars just to find out what her life would be like tomorrow.

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It was barely dawn when Ayako awoke with a start the next morning. Glancing over at the alarm clock on her bedside table, the glow of the red digits indicated that it was only 5.47am. Although it was too early for her to be up and about, Ayako found herself struggling to slip back into slumber. Sighing loudly, Ayako sat up and spent a few quiet moments staring out of the window. The wind was blowing strongly outside, scattering leaves everywhere and seemingly hurrying fast moving clouds in the sky. The sky. Ayako frowned slightly. The sky was an odd blend of green and purple. She had never seen such a hue in the sky before. It felt strange, almost ominous. Involuntarily, Ayako shuddered.

'I must be tired' Ayako rationalised. There was no reason for her to feel afraid of the sky. What could a sky do to anyone? Still Ayako could shake the ill ease that accompanied her that early morning.

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The weather had hardly improved by mid morning. Outside the wind was still howling , drowning out the sensei's voice as he struggled to make matrix algebra engaging for the class of 16 year olds under his care. Ayako found her mind wandering as well. She gazed around the classroom, smiling slightly at the students who slept openly in class. Resting her eyes on her neighbour, she found that he was fixing her with an intense stare.

"Pay attention Ryota" She warned, not minding that she was being entirely hypocritical in saying that statement.

"Hai Aya-Chan" The curly haired boy said and continued to stare at her. She shook her head slightly.

"Not to me! To sensei!" She whispered.

"But you're more interesting." Miyagi said with a dreamy grin. Ayako gave up. No matter what she did, Miyagi never seem to be discouraged in his pursuit of her. Ayako returned her gaze to the teacher at the blackboard, determined to ignore the puppy dog look that Miyagi continued to fix on her. There was something unnerving about the way Miyagi stared at her today. It was as if the intensity of his gaze had been heightened tenfold. Ayako felt awkward with the sense of longing that he was projecting.

"Aya-chan," Ayako ignored Miyagi. She wouldn't encourage him. It wasn't healthy to do so.

"Aya-chan," Miyagi said louder "Aya-chan, Aya-chan"

"Sshh!" Ayako hissed in a panic. What was Miyagi thinking? He was going to attract everyone's attention at this rate.

Perhaps that was precisely Miyagi's intention because he suddenly stood up in class. As if under a spell, he began to recite a sonnet, all the while fixing Ayako with the same intense gaze. Ayako sat mortified in her chair and yet, she couldn't help noticing that it was the first time she heard Miyagi speak in perfect English. For a guy with so much trouble in terms of grades, he was doing a remarkable job with his recitation.

"_... I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly..."_

The sound of chalk snapping, followed by a loud clearing of throat made Ayako jump. Turning to the front of class, she saw a very irate sensei standing at the blackboard.

"MIYAGI RYOTA. REPORT TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW" The sensei bellowed, clenching his fists together. When Miyagi didn't move but continued to recite the rest of the poem, the sensei grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the classroom. Miyagi's voice could still be heard down the hallway although his mellifluous words were now mixed together with angry interjections from the sensei.

Back in the classroom, all hell broke loose. People stared and pointed at Ayako, giggling away while exchanging loud whispers. Ayako shrank in her seat.

"Baka Ryota."

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"Ayako? Have you seen Miyagi today?" Kogure asked, his large brown eyes reflecting concern behind his spectacles.

Ayako sighed. Miyagi had been assigned two day's worth of detention for his little performance in class. If she were principal though, she would have assigned Miyagi a week's worth of detention for that outbreak in class, Ayako thought darkly. The rest of the day in class had been utterly humiliating for Ayako. She found herself the subject of all hushed conversations and no one could look at her without giggling.

"He's been given two day's detention." Ayako said shortly, not wishing to go into detail on why Miyagi was even in detention.

Kogure raised his eyebrows. "Really? How fortunate and unfortunate."

Ayako shot her senior a confused look. "What?"

"Nothing" He said and cleared his throat. "What are you, uh noting down in your chart there?"

"This?" Ayako said in surprise and stared at her notes. She had been monitoring Sakuragi's performance and making notes on areas that she thought he might need to improve on. "I'm just recording down things that I think I might want to make Sakuragi practise"

"You have very neat handwriting" Ayako jumped as she felt Kogure's breath tickle her neck. She looked up to see Kogure standing behind her, peering at her notes. 'When did he get this close?' Ayako thought, shifting a step away from her senior to give them both more room. No sooner had she done this, Kogure took a step closer to her and closed the distance between them again.

"Sem-pai?" Ayako asked, growing slightly uncomfortable at their proximity.

"Hmmm...? You know you have very nice hair A-ya-ko" Kogure said, drawling out her name while raising his hand to play with a lock of her hair.

"You're acting very strangely , sempai" Ayako said weakly.

"Really... am I being a bad, bad boy?" Kogure said with a lecherous wink.

That did it. Sempai or not, Ayako shoved Kogure away and started for the door. What the heck was wrong with everyone today? Did Kogure hear about Ryota's outburst in class and decide to carry on with a nasty joke? Such actions were so foreign to the gentle boy's usual behaviour.

Ayako's thoughts were in a swirl as she pushed opened the doors that led to the fresh air outside. Except as luck would have it, it was still raining, the wind was still howling and Ayako only had a tiny little piece of shelter right outside the door. Just then Ayako recalled part of the message on her fortune cookie and in a childish fit of anger, she raised her fist to the sky and shook it violently.

"THE STARS WILL BE ALIGNED MY FOOT!!!! ARE YOU MOCKING ME??!!!!"

And then as an afterthought, because she had also recalled Megumi's fortune and because she was feeling particularly contrary at the moment, Ayako added to her tirade against the sky.

"AND NO, IT IS NOT BEST TO STAY INSIDE TODAY EITHER!"

Author's notes: I was in a bit of a whimsical mood. I've been watching too many shoujo animes with the reverse harem theme and I wondered how tom-boy Ayako would react if such a situation were to occur in Slam Dunk. I'm likely to add other scenes. The lines Miyagi recited is from a love sonnet by Neruda.


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